Charolette Graye
by LittleBlackStarz
Summary: **FINISHED!!** Charolette is a journalist from New York City, and her daughter is accepted at Hogwarts. On her way to London she meets a man to change her life. Her sisters hiding something and her hearts starting to tell the truth.
1. Learn to Fly

Chapter 1- Learn To Fly

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of JK Rowling's characters...I only own Charolette and her family.

(Learn to Fly is a song by the Foo Fighters)

'And its 6:30 am here on this busy Monday morning in beautiful New York City! Today is the 23rd of August and...' 

Charolette awoke to the radio announcer and fumbled with the radio till she found the switch to shut it off.

Most days began like this: waking up to the radio announcer's heavy New York accent blasting in her ears, mindless shuffling out of bed and searching blindly for the bathroom so she could put in her contacts, and then going to a job she despised more then the traffic she had to face to get to it.

But to Charolette, it was all she knew as life.

She stepped into the shower, indulging in this moment of peace under the steaming water.

This was her time to think. Her time to enjoy life and relax when the world outside is bustling about. 

Charolette had been part of New York City since she was born. She grew up in a wealthy household and her parents were a very respected witch and wizard. 

Her parents also prized pure-bloods, and they did nothing but pressure their two daughters to marry a rich wizard to carry on the wealth in their family.

Charolette had grown up with money, glory, and respect. But all she really wanted was a family of her own and a nice home in the country where she could live out her life. She had also always wanted to fall in love.

But all that wishing and wanting got her here. And she wasn't happy. So she gave up on wishing and spent her life never looking forward to anything except seeing her only daughter's shining face in the morning.

"Goodmorning baby," Charolette said as she walked out into the kitchen in her bathrobes, her dark brown black hair still wet.

"Mornin' mom."

Emma was a young girl of 11 and had shoulder length light brown hair. She was on summer break from public muggle school, and enjoying herself thoroughly at the apartment alone during the day.

Emma was a witch, just like her mother. But she was only half blood, for her father was a muggle and had no idea Charolette was a witch. 

Months before Emma was born, Charolette's boyfriend had left her to move to Chicago, stating that he couldn't commit and that he had never loved her to begin with.

This, of course, is the reason Charolette refuses to trust men.

Charolette rushed through breakfast, spilling fruity pebbles on the table on accident while she forced the cereal down her throat. She got dressed and ran out into the kitchen to say goodbye before leaving for the day. 

"Be good, I'll be back around 6 like always, love you bye," Charolette kissed Emma on the cheek and ran out the door, her jacket clutched tightly in one arm and her purse in the other.

Of course, a Monday morning in New York City isn't something that would make you want to live there. Especially if it is during rush hour.

This Monday morning was no exception.

Charolette ran down the stairs to catch the train, almost toppling over the crowds of people swarming around the area. She found a spot and sat down, already rubbing her temples and feeling a headache coming on.

She looked around. A dirty looking, homeless no doubt, man sat a few seats down from her, snoring loudly. A dozen people stood around her, clutching the bars that stood from the ground to the ceiling for support as the train sped off.

When Charolette arrived at work, she was greeted with a bunch of paperwork and a million people rushing to tell her of calls she missed over the weekend.

Because, as she always used to tell herself, the New York Times was a busy place.

"Yes yes that's nice," she said irritably as she slammed the door shut to her office. She walked to her desk and fell into the chair, exhausted. 

"Ugh goddamnit..." she muttered as she heard a knocking at her door. "What is it?"

A small woman walked in carrying a basket of flowers.

"These were sent for a Ms. Charolette Graye?"

Charolette eyed the basket and then the woman, asking who they were from.

"Oh, I don't know, they showed up this morning by your box...the other ladies were starting to mess with them so I thought I'd bring them to you...is that alright?" the young woman said cautiously.

"Yes yes, thank you..." 

The woman smiled and set the basket on Charolette's desk, then walked out the door.

When the woman had left, Charolette brought the basket closer to her and picked out a large card.

The cover where the address should be said _Charolette Graye - From your lil' sis_

Surprised at getting a letter from her sister, who was now living in Wales, Charolette opened the letter. She gasped when she saw what was written inside.

__

Dear Charolette,

I have GREAT news! I wrote to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 

and they accepted Emma! The new semester starts on September the 1st, and I hope you'll come stay with me while Emma is off at school! I really miss you, Wales is absoultely gorgeous 

right now, please come!!

Your Sis, Maggie

Shocked, Charolette smiled for the first time that day and picked up the phone and dialed home. 

"Emma, you'll never guess what just happened!"

"Um...you got fired?"

"No! Aunt Maggie got you accepted at Hogwart's school!!"

"What's that?"

"Oh please Emma! You remember Hogwarts...remember how your a W.I.T.C.H?"

"Ohhhhh...wow! thats awesome!"

"In fact, I'm going to buy us tickets out of here right now, and we'll leave when I get home which will be in a few hours okay?"

"Wow...um okay!! see ya later then I guess....haha."

Charolette couldn't believe her luck. She finally had an excuse to leave this city and live out in the English countryside with her sister.

And, her daughter was accepted at the school Charolette had always wanted to go to, but her parents forced her to a private school in New York. Those were just TWO of the benefits.

She went on the internet and found two tickets on a one way flight to London that was to arrive from Florida that evening. Getting her credit card, she quickly booked the tickets and then flipped through her phone book for her sisters number.

~*~

When Charolette got home, Emma was waving the Hogwarts letter in her face and explaining how a big white owl came in through the window and dropped it in her lap.

Charolette merely hugged her daughter and urged her to hurry packing. She had quit her job on the spot, and told her boss she was moving to Wales.

He was a bit ruffled, but let her go eventually when she pleaded with him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

~*~

Charolette and Emma walked up to the luggage area of the airport with two large suitcases full of clothes and each with a small carry-on bag with essentials.

Emma didn't have a wand yet, but Charolette kept hers at close hand.

They arrived at the waiting area for the plane and Charolette was already frustrated about the enormous crowds of people in her way. 

She went over and bought some pizza for her and Emma to eat before the long plane ride, and balanced her purse on the tips of her fingers while she held the pizza and drinks.

As she was walking over to where Emma was about to sit down, her purse fell off her fingers and landed right in front of the feet of a man who was sitting alone.

Charolette cursed and gave the pizza to Emma, and bent down to pick up the contents of her purse when she hit her head on something.

She looked up and it was the man who had been sitting down when the purse dropped at his feet. Charolette looked at him for a second, forgetting where she was.

The man had long, alittle over shoulder length, black hair that he had tied back in a ponytail and dark steel blue eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Charolette stammered after the long pause.

"No, it's quite alright..." the man said as he stood up, holding Charolette's wand. "Hmm..." 

"Oh, god, ya you wouldn't understa..."

"Cederwood, unicorn tail, 11 inches, nice wand," the man interupted.

Charolette breathed out a sigh of relief. 

"You have a very keen sense for wands, Mr...?" 

"Blackwood...Sirius Blackwood." the man said, giving a little bow. He smiled and laughed happily and Charolette took his hand.

"I'm Charolette Graye, it's nice to meet you...not much else here but muggles, god they are annoying sometimes...so naive."

Sirius motioned for Charolette to sit down next to him.

"So why are you two going to London?" Sirius asked, smiling and winking at Emma.

"I got accepted at Hogwarts!!" Emma boasted proudly.

"Wow..." Sirius said, raising his eyebrows at her and turning to Charolette. "You must have a very smart sister there eh?"

Charolette smiled and averted her gaze from his eyes to her hands, which were playing around with the seam of her jacket.

"Actually, she's my...daughter..." Charolette said, not looking at his face.

"Ahh, very cool," Sirius said, noticing that she really didn't want to talk about it. "I'm actually going to Hogwarts as well, not to learn of course, I went there awhile back, but to talk to the headmaster about something."

Sirius gazed off at the doors leading to the entrance of the plane, and noticed that people were starting to board. 

"Oh look, they're boarding, better get going now eh?" Sirius said and smiled at Charolette and Emma, leading them up to the doors.

When they were on the plane, Charolette, Sirius and Emma were sitting together in a 3 seat row in the center.

They fell into simple conversation all the way to London. When they got off the plane, they said goodbye and went their seperate ways.


	2. Back in the High Life Again

Chapter 2- Back in the High Life Again

****

Disclaimer: Don't own, sadly...

(Back in the High Life again is a song by Micheal Bolton)

~*~

"Ohh, Charolette!!" screamed Maggie as she opened her door to find Charolette and Emma waiting outside. "I'm so happy you've come!!"

"Yes, thanks for inviting us, Mag," Charolette smiled at her beaming sister. "No problem at all, come in come in!"

Charolette and Emma trudged inside the cozy manor dragging their huge suitcases behind them. 

"Oh dear, please, have you taken to the muggle way of life that much?" Maggie scolded her sister. "Let me get your bags." And with a flick of her wand, the bags were floating effortlessly in the air.

"Heh, ya thanks..." Charolette shrugged. They entered the large parlor and two small house-elves came out of the kitchen. Maggie ordered them to take the luggage upstairs and they obediently did so.

"So, how was your flight dear?" Maggie questioned, seemingly over enthusiastic about her sister being in her home.

"Oh, it was alright..."

"We met this really cool guy named Sirius!" Emma interupted, smiling proudly at her mother as if she'd just let out the biggest secret in the world.

"Ah is that so.." Maggie said, raising her eye-brows at Charolette. "Was this guy handsome, Charolette?"

"Uhh..." but before Charolette could answer, a house elf entered the room and cleared her throat. Which was much to Charolette's relief because she was now hiding her blushing cheeks. 

"The misses rooms is ready, Miss Maggie."

Maggie smiled at the elf and said thank you and ushered her off to finish with whatever she was busying herself with before their guests arrived.

Charolette vividly remembered back to her childhood when the house elves had been her only friends for some time. Her and her sister always had a condescending relationship.

Charolette was interuptted from her reminising when Maggie cleared her throat and talked Emma into going upstairs to get ready for bed, as she was nodding off in the large armchair she was sitting in. 

When Maggie was sure that Emma was upstairs and out of earshot, she pulled her sister off into the living room and told her to sit in the small white couch adjacent to where she was about to sit.

"Now, Charolette, I must ask you..." Maggie said cautiously, as if thinking through everything she was going to say with great worry. "What was the last name of this Sirius fellow you met down at the airport?"

Charolette thought for a moment, "Blackwood, yes, that was it, Blackwood."

Maggie gave her a strange look and looked down nervously at her hands, a trait both sisters seemed to possess which characterized deep thought and nervousness.

"That's interesting...because you see, a wanted criminal has been on the run for some time now, and his name was Sirius Black, I doubt you heard of him, being so far away and all, but it was definately a big issue here..."

Charolette shrugged, seemingly uninterested and knowing for sure that the man she met could not possibly be a criminal.

"What did he do that was so bad?" she asked finally, giving into the tiny bit of curiosity that hung in the air.

"Well, he killed a bunch of muggles and a man named Peter Pettigrew in the name of Lord Voldemort...or so we all are led to believe..." Charolette looked at her sister, who seemed comfortable in talking about Peter Pettigrew and Voldemort, but seemed to shudder when she thought about Sirius Black.

"Ahh...I think I remember hearing something about that..." Charolette said finally after an uncomfortable pause, "But of course I don't keep in touch with other wizards or witches or in their news for that matter...I simply lived the life of a muggle, it's much easier then you would think, but it's tiresome and repetitive."

"Oh you poor dear...why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep?" Maggie stood up, her arms pointing up the winding stairs.

"Alright, goodnight Mag, and thank you for letting us stay here and for getting Emma admitted to Hogwarts." Charolette hugged her sister and walked up the stairs and settling down in her room, never giving a last thought to Sirius being a criminal. Somehow, in her heart, she knew it to be false.

~*~

Sirius hurried up to the doors of Hogwarts, trying hard to not be seen. The students were in class, so the halls of the castle and the grounds were virtually empty. He ran to the large gargoyle that stood as the entrance to Dumbledore's office. 

"Lemon Drop," Sirius said, wondering to himself why Dumbledore always had his passwords be names of candy.

Sirius stepped onto the rising staircase. Reaching the landing by a large wooden door, he stepped up to it and knocked softly, pushing open the door. Dumbledore sat at his desk, stroking Fawkes.

"I see your bird is still alive and well," Sirius said, grinning happily at the older wizard.

"Sirius! How nice it is to see you at last," Dumbledore smiled cheerfully and stood up to hug his young friend.

"Albus," Sirius muttered as he hugged the old wizard. "I've come to ask for your help."

"What help do you seek, Padfoot?" Albus smiled whole-heartily and chuckled as his friend blushed and looked at his feet.

"I've been on the run...as you know, and I've been down in the states for the past while, but I've decided to come back here, and I was wondering if you would be able to use some sort of charm on me to make me unrecognizable so I could stay here."

"Ah, well let's see..." Dumbledore disapparated and returned a minute later, accompanied by Professor Flitwick. "I think Theodor here has the perfect charm for you Sirius."

Professor Flitwick smiled at Sirius, and took his hand in his tiny one. "It's so nice to see you again, Mr. Black."

Sirius smiled and Professor Flitwick began explaining the charm he wanted to use on him. 

"It's called the Fidelius Charm_(I read this in another fanfic...so copywrite to them, sorry I can't find the fanfic I read it in...but ya, its not my idea_), and it will make it so that when a person sees you they will look away and forget they saw you or what you look like. It is very effective, but has its downsides..." the tiny wizard looked up at Dumbledore, worriedly, then continued. "Certain people will be able to recognize you, family, close friends, etc."

Sirius smiled, "Well, I don't see how that is a downfall...but alright."

"No, it is a downfall because someone you might be enemies with now could recognize you, or someone you don't even know but are connected with spiritually may recognize your face."

"I'm willing to take the risk...but...does this mean Harry will be able to recognize me?"

"Lets hope so," Albus said with a smile, and ushered the small wizard on to perform the charm.

~*~

Maggie, Charolette, and Emma stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, taking in the musk of liquor and sweat. Maggie waved to several people, and led Charolette and Emma into a back room.

Maggie tapped the wall in the correct order, and Charolette and Emma watched in awe as the wall pulled itself apart and showed Diagon Alley.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, ladies!" Maggie said exitedly as she grabbed Charolette's arm, who was awestruck by everything she saw. 

Small shops stood left and right, all filled with unique tools for magic. One shop encased a hundred owls and cats and other pets who all seemed to chirp, meow, hoot, and squeak in a strange unison. They passed by a shop filled with robes of all different colors and styles, and another shop that held a bunch of Quidditch supplies, all stacked neatly on top of eachother.

Witches and wizards swarmed around, chattering to eachother about deals and stores and items. Maggie dragged them into Ollivanders to get Emma a wand.

Charolette watched proudly as her daughter was handed a wand with a Phoenix feather in it, and glanced around the musty old shop at the millions of wand boxes that were on top of one another.

When they'd left the wand store, Maggie insisted that they head off to buy Emma new robes. Emma, even more excited at the thought of new clothes, rushed off ahead of her mother.

After buying everything Emma would need for school, they stopped at the small Ice Cream shop and sat down for the best ice cream Charolette had ever tasted.

She was completely happy and content, watching her sister who she hadn't seen for years talk joyously to her young daughter who was about to start a great education at the best of the best where schools were concerned.

That evening, Charolette slept soundly. Her dreams far away from haunting her.

~*~

Sirius stood at the window of the chamber Albus had given him to stay in. It was near Gryffindor tower, and it overlooked the lake. 

The Fidelius Charm was set, and no one would recognize him now except Harry and the staff who were informed of his presence.

And now, the night before the students were to pour back into the school, Sirius felt happy and at home. He also felt safe, knowing he was under the watchful eye of the man he considered his father.

Yet, somehow, he wished he had someone who he could share the night with. Someone to hold and to have hold him back. But he knew that was too far off and impossible for him to have.

~*~

Today was the day. The day Emma was to leave her till Christmas holidays, Charolette thought to herself as she climbed out of the car, grabbing Emma's suitcase and owl cage and placing them on a trolly.

Maggie got out and assisted Charolette, then the three of them walked into Kings Cross. 

"Now what platform are we going to?" Charolette asked her little sister, who was smiling broadly.

"Platform 9 3/4's Charolette dear," Maggie replied, the smile on her face getting larger if possible.

Charolette shrugged. She knew the wizarding world was strange; she should've known they'd have a hidden platform.

After a long walk down to platforms 9 and 10, Maggie suddenly stopped. Charolette curiously looked around, trying to notice some sort of strange door or something peculiar. When Maggie whispered something in Emma's ear and Charolette watched Emma run head first into the wall bearing the numbers 10 and 9 on it she screamed.

"What the hell!?" Emma had passed through the wall. Maggie started laughing hysterically at her sisters reaction, and told her what she had told Emma.

"Just walk through the wall to get onto the platform, trust me."

Charolette nervously stepped forward and ran into the wall. Preparing herself to crash, she winced when she went straight through the wall and her eyes got large when she saw that she stood in front of a huge black and red train and that Emma was sitting down on her trunk, grinning profusely at her mother.

"Didn't think it'd work, eh?" she asked jokingly.

"Ya ya, shut up."

Next thing she knew, Maggie was standing next to her, ushering Emma to the train. Emma handed her luggage and owl cage to a man loading things onto the train.

She turned back and hugged Charolette, kissing her cheek.

"I'll miss you mom," she said, smiling happily with tears in her eyes, "I'll be home for christmas, and I'll send you an owl like Aunt Maggie told me."

With that, she gave her mother a final goodbye kiss and stepped up onto the train.


	3. Time of Your Life

Chapter 3- Time of Your Life

****

Disclaimer: All characters cept Charolette and family are owned by JK Rowling

(Time of your life is a song by Green Day)

Emma looked around the train. It was one long hallway, with tiny booths on both sides filled with students. She was stuck between a stuck up boy with white blonde hair who kept muttering something about his father and a very annoyed looking red headed girl.

"Excuse me?" Emma asked the red headed girl. "Do you know if any of the compartments are open?"

The girl turned around and smiled at her. "Yea, I'm heading up to the one I'm in now, you can come join me if you like."

"Thanks," Emma beamed.

They were finally able to get through and they stopped at a booth in the very back of the train. Inside was a tall boy with the same red hair as the girl she'd met already, an average height boy with black hair and deep green eyes that held glasses and a girl with a mass of light brown curls and dark brown eyes.

"Ron, what the hell are you doing now?" the girl Emma had followed in the booth said.

The boy with red hair looked up from what looked like a small ball of feathers and a tiny red and blue suit.

"I was making Pig here look bad, since he always makes ME look bad," the boy said, then went back into attempting to put the tiny suit on the ball of feathers.

"Right..." the girl said, then turning to the other boy smiled.

"Here, why don't you sit down?" she said, motioning for Emma to sit down next to the boy with brown hair. "My name is Ginny, this is Hermione, that's Ron, my brother, and this is Harry Potter." The girl waited for a surprised reaction from Emma, but Emma simply smiled and introduced herself.

Curious as to why Emma didn't go gap faced when she saw Harry, Ginny began to politely ask her questions.

"So, where are you from?"

"New York, but I came here just to go to Hogwarts, my aunt was able to get me in," Emma smiled proudly, because to her, it was a huge deal to get to go to such a famed school.

"Ahh, that would explain it, the accent and...well..." Ginny said to herself, looking at Harry. "Do you recognize him?"

Emma stared at Harry for a second, and smiled when he grinned happily at her.

"Nope, why...should I? Is he an actor or something?"

Ginny and Ron gasped. They had never known anyone who didn't know who Harry Potter was, and stared at her. There was an odd pause and Emma looked at Harry again, who quickly took her hand and stood up.

"Let me introduce myself then, I'm Harry Potter, and it's very nice to meet you." He was extremely polite, and his eyes held a happiness that sparkled.

"Great to meet you, Harry, my name is Emma Graye," they stared at eachother for a moment, unable to look away.

Ginny cleared her throat loudly and the two snapped out of their reverie. Emma looked over at Ginny, who's eyes were filled with jealousy. "Now that everyone is aquainted, why don't we sit?"

~*~

Sirius stepped out into the warm sunshine, taking in the last hours of peace before the students would arrive at the castle. Harry of course, would be taken aside and explained the situation with Sirius and the charm.

He sat down on the grass by the lake, watching the giant squid swim lazily across the water. "If only life were that easy, my friend," he murmered quietly, his words directed at the squid that was now approaching him, begging him to come in the water and play.

Figuring he had nothing else to do, Sirius transformed and jumped into the water, swimming laps with the friendly squid.

~*~

When they arrived at Hogwarts, Emma had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder, and he was asleep on hers. Ginny and Ron had started playing a game with exploding marbles and Hermione was reading her new Potions book.

The train came to a halt, which woke Emma with a start. She noticed how she was sleeping, and saw that Harry still had his eyes closed, but was smiling. Embarassed, Emma sat up carefully, nudging Harry to wake up.

"Mmmrgh," Harry groaned, stretching his arms. "Oh, sorry Emma, didn't realize I'd fallen asleep on ya!" he said, smiling at her.

"S'alright, Harry."

The students poured out of the train, and Emma was separated from her new friends when she was called with the other first years to take a trip across the lake. Waving bye to Harry and the others, she ran off to follow Hagrid.

"She's really nice, your friend," Harry said to Ginny, staring down the path after Emma, who was now running to catch up.

"Yea..." Ginny said, gazing at the floor with a jealous look on her face. 

They walked into the Great Hall and sat down at one of the long tables. Anxiously they awaited the arrival of the first year students, talking and waiting for the empty dishes in front of them to fill with food.

At last, the first years entered the room, Emma among them. Harry spotted her and waved, grinning exitedly. Emma saw him and waved back, nervousness ceasing just a tad when she saw his smile.

The first years, as was the tradition, were led up to the front of the Great Hall in front of the teachers table and in front of a small stool with an old wizards hat on it. Emma stared at the hat as if it were about to explode. And when it started to speak, thats what she thought it did.

The hat had begun to sing a song, and Emma got bored after the first 3 lines. 'Ugh...can't I just get this over with? I want to sit with my friends,' she looked longingly at Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

At last, the hat stopped singing it's song, and everyone but Emma applauded. A witch wearing emerald green robes stepped up to the stool, holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, come sit up on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head. When it says what house you are to belong in, please take your seat at the table for that house," the woman said quickly.

She began calling off names, and one by one students from around Emma went up and were sorted into various houses. Finally her name was called.

"Emma Graye," the woman said hoarsley, as if she had her job cut out for her.

Emma went and sat on the stool, and felt the hat be placed on her head. Then she heard it begin to speak and jumped at first.

"Ahh...American I see...let's see, where should I put you?" the hat mumbled a few things to itself, then screamed what was probably at the top of it's...threads..."Gryffindor!"

Emma looked for which table was cheering, and much to her relief saw it was the table Harry and his friends were sitting at. She ran over and joined them, sitting next to Harry.

The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch, and the headmaster said a few words and then food magically appeared on the tables. Emma, thoroughly impressed by this manuever, dug in.

Her and her new friends talked casually, and they asked her constant questions about Muggle America.

"Is it true that everyone there transports themselves through the air in big pieces of metal?" Ron asked curiously, then taking a huge bite of a chicken leg.

Harry and Hermione burst out laughing, and Emma couldn't help but join in. She knew now that Harry and Hermione had both grown up with a muggle lifestyle as well. But they grew up in England, Emma thought, laughing to herself. They knew absolutely nothing about America, and apparently hadn't seen many movies either.

"Well, Ron, those big pieces of metal your talking about are called airplanes, and yes, muggles get around that way. In fact, I flew in one to get here," Emma said, grinning at Ron's excited face.

"Oh man, dad would LOVE you! He's obsessed with muggles! He even collects plugs!!"

Emma looked strangely at him, and let the comment slide.

"Anyways though, what's your guys' favorite movie?" 

Ron and Ginny just looked confused, but Harry and Hermione spoke up.

"I've only seen one movie, my aunt and uncle wouldn't let me watch movies cause they thought that I would get foolish ideas in my head, but when I would go over to the neighbors house she would let me watch a movie called Scrooge from the 50's or something...she said it taught me to be a good boy." he said with a sheepish grin.

Emma shrugged, "Never heard of it...so that's the only movie you've EVER seen? What about you Hermione?" Emma was completely flabbergasted.

"Well, as I spent most of my childhood reading and learning," Everyone who heard groaned except Emma, who didn't understand what all the groaning was about, "I didn't watch many movies, but I did see quite a few Disney movies."

Finally, someone who might have had an almost normal childhood, Emma thought. "What movies??"

"Hmm...Snow White, Bambi, and Sleeping Beauty," Hermione replied thoughtfully. "But the books were so much better."

Emma gave up then and there. "Ah...well, one day I'm going to take you all to the movies so we can watch everything, you guys REALLY need to get out!"

Ron and Ginny were still confused, but Harry and Hermione laughed, a bit embarassed that they apparently hadn't lived a full muggle lifestyle.

When the feast was over, the new prefects led their houses to the dormitories. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione seemed sure of where they were going and were chatting along the way, but Emma was awestruck at everything she saw, especially the ghosts that floated by occasionally.

Suddenly, a bunch of water fell from the ceiling and onto the floor. Emma slipped and grabbed Harry's arm to prevent from falling. Harry was having trouble not slipping himself and Hermione was already on the floor, along with Ron. Ginny had escaped away from the water, and was laughing at Ron who was rubbing his backside painfully.

"What the..." Ron started, then looked up and groaned so loud that everyone looked up. A small ghost floated proudly above them, surveying the scene with a large bucket in his hands.

"PEEVES!" a loud voice from behind them screamed. The witch in the emerald green robes walked up to the scene and shook a finger at the ghost who was now laughing up a storm, literally.

Clouds formed over the witches head and rain began to fall from them, along with a few lightning bolts.

"GODSDAMNIT I SWEAR!! YOU ARE SO CLOSE TO BEING KICKED OUT OF HERE PEEVES!" the woman was shaking with blood red fury, then she tore off and eventually came back with another ghost, who quickly chased after Peeves, yelled obsenities at him.

"I'm so sorry, you know how Peeves can be..." the woman said, frowning when she realized that storm clouds still rained over her head. With a flick of her wand they vanished, and then she noticed Emma. "Oh, Miss Graye, our new American student, how nice to see you."

Emma looked up from the ground, which she had fallen on when she'd heard the woman scream at Peeves. Harry helped her up and the Professor used a spell to dry them up.

"Now come with me to the common room, you four know me, but for Emma's sake I'll introduce myself." the woman said, smiling at Emma and holding out her hand.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, you may call me Professor McGonagall, I teach transfigurations and am head of Gryffindor."

"Nice to meet you," Emma said politely, shaking the womans hand.

"Best be off now, come on," Professor McGonagall said and motioned them to start off down the hall.

~*~


	4. Underneath it All

Chapter 4- Underneath it All

****

Disclaimer: Don't own, nuff said

(Underneath it All is a song by No Doubt)

Charolette sat alone in the parlor of her sisters house, gazing out of the window at the garden where flowers were blooming in abundance.

Her sister was big on keeping a garden, and was very talented when it came to flowers. Charolette was envious, as she had never had a garden to take care of, only a small house plant that died after a few days because she'd over watered it.

The sound of the front door shutting echoed into the parlor, and Charolette looked up from the garden. Maggie entered the room, taking off a huge black cloak.

"Hey Mag, where'd u go? I woke up and you weren't here," Charolette said, glancing at the cloak curiously. Since when had Maggie worn black?

"I was at a meeting, which by the way, I want to talk to you about something." Maggie said, no hint of happiness in her face as there usually was.

"Ya..sure Mag, come sit down." Maggie went and sat next to Charolette, taking her hands in her own.

"Charolette, I want to make you an offer I highly doubt you can afford to refuse," she said, squeezing her sisters hands tighter. "I want to offer you a position with my Lord's...group, and, because your my sister and I am well respected, I feel you would get the highest appraise any newcomer could hope for."

Charolette looked at her sister, but it didn't look like her anymore. Maggie's eyes were dark, her face paler, and her mouth formed in a securely evil grin.

"What group would this be, Maggie?"

"Oh, I think you know...as much as you are not associated with the wizarding world, I know you know of whom I speak when I say My Lord..."

Charolette swallowed and looked away from her sisters gaze, fear built up in the pit of her stomach.

"Voldemort, Charolette, he is rising again...gaining more power...he needs followers, and has asked me to invite you to join us." Maggie held her hard on gaze, never shifting or letting that evil grin fail her face. "You see, we have a lot of money to our name, but Voldemort needs both of us to have it..."

"No, Maggie, I won't join you." Charolette said quickly, pretending to be calm even though her stomach was twisting in a tight knot.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice, we need followers, and I can offer you a position of power...great power...my good aquaintance Lucius Malfoy beckons you to come to our next meeting...to decide if you wish to receive the mark." 

Charolette looked at her sister in disbelief now. Had this been why she had brought her sister here? To join the dark side with Voldemort? She would NOT be forced to the dark side, she absolutely refused.

"No, I told you no and that is my final answer," Charolette stood up and walked out of the parlor, but before she'd gone upstairs yelled back down to her sister, "I'm leaving, Maggie, I can't stay here anymore."

~*~

Maggie had disapeered when Charolette came down with her suitcase, so Charolette simply walked out the door.

She didn't know where she would go, but figured since the only place she knew of was Hogwarts, that she'd go there. She had met Professor Dumbledore in a meeting before school had started to thank him for allowing Emma to attend the school. He had said that she was welcome to stay at Hogwarts if she ever needed to, and right now was as good a time as any to take the offer.

She caught a bus that led her to London, and from there she asked around in the Leaky Cauldron for directions into Hogsmeade, which to her present knowledge was located below Hogwarts.

When she'd finally found her way, she walked up the castle steps and went into Professor Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall was just coming out of the office, and smiled at her and told her what the password was.

Charolette said the words and the stairs began to move up again, and she hopped up on one and reached the top of the landing. Knocking lightly on the door, she waited to hear Dumbledore say 'enter' or 'lemon drop' or whatever it was that he felt like saying today.

She heard him say 'Cherry Puff' and she figured that was a form of enter in his weird candy language. Opening the door slowly, Charolette walked in, and saw the Professor talking to one of the Headmasters in a painting.

"I don't think it's a good idea to allow a morning break period Albus!"

"Ah, but what you don't understand, is that with a morning break period, I'd have another chance to catch up on eating candy!" the headmaster joked, and then turned to Charolette.

"Well goodafternoon Ms. Charolette, for what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" the older wizard smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.

Charolette couldn't help but laugh at Albus, even though her situation was terrible.

"I...well you see...I found out today that my sister, who I was staying with...well...shehasbecomeadeatheaterandaskedmetojoin," Charolette said very fast, embarassed by the very situation. The wizard just laughed.

"No need to be ashamed my child, but this is indeed a bad situation...are you planning on staying anywhere?"

Charolette blushed alittle, and stared down at her hands. 

"Well, you see, I was hoping to accept your offer of staying here, at Hogwarts, I don't know anybody else in England or all of Europe for that matter and I want to be able to be close to my daughter."

"You are more then welcome to stay here, Ms. Graye, we have extra living quarters near the Gryffindor common room." Albus smiled at her relief, "I will inform the house elves of your presence and ask them to clean up a room for you."

"Thank you so much, Professor Dumbledore." Charolette said, relieved of having a place to stay. 

Albus, who apparently had nothing to do at the present moment, invited Charolette to some tea and a game of chess. She accepted, and sat down in an arm chair by the fire while the old wizard conjured up tea and a chess board.

Charolette was about to begin playing when she watched in horror as the Headmaster picked up the Queen and took a big bite out of her.

"Umm..." was all Charolette could get out.

"Mmm...coconut..." Albus looked at her and laughed. "Ah, yes, well you see I like to play with candy pieces, so that when my opponent loses a piece I get to eat it instead of have it broken apart." he smiled and she laughed. He was full of surprises.

They played for about an hour, when the door opened and a man walked in. Charolette looked up and grinned in surprise.

"Sirius!! It's so good to see you again!" She ran up to him and hugged him, then backed down when she saw that he had a look of horror on his face. "Charolette...what..?"

"What's..." she said as she turned to Albus who seemed as surprised as Sirius. "What's wrong?" Charolette asked impatiently, wanting to know why it was a surprise that she knew who Sirius was.

"Charolette, may I ask you a question..." Albus said finally, looking curiously at Charolette. "How do you know Sirius here?"

"Oh..I met him at the airport when we were going to London, why?"

"Well...I'm sure you've heard of a certain Sirius Black?"

Charolette paused, then backed away from Sirius and fell into the armchair she had been sitting in. Sirius looked at her sadly and then looked at the ground.

"I take that as a yes...well what you've heard is not true...but I must beg you that if I tell you the truth you must not word it to anyone, not a soul," Albus said quietly.

Charolette nodded, and looked up at Sirius again, and saw how he looked sadly at his feet and back up to Dumbledore. She suddenly felt like a fool and stood up again, still keeping her distance from Sirius.

"It all began when years ago a group of muggles were killed supposedly along with a man named Peter Pettigrew." Charolette saw Sirius wince at the name, and then Dumbledore continued. "Everyone thought Peter had died, and that Sirius had in fact killed all the muggles...he went to Azkaban for 12 long years before he escaped, his mind set on killing Pettigrew who he found out was still alive."

There was a short pause, and Charolette studied Sirius's expression, which was filled with hatred, an expression that she'd never seen on him before.

"Anyway, it turned out that Sirius here was innocent, and that Pettigrew had killed the muggles and framed Sirius, then ran off to join Voldemort. We got so close to catching him again, but he turned tail and ran, getting away into the darkness."

Charolette felt horrible about backing away from Sirius, and walked up to him again, touching his shoulder. 

"I'm so sorry Sirius...I didn't know," she said softly, and watched him look at the ground again, his eyes saddened.

Dumbledore continued. "And so, Sirius was on the run, because everyone still thought he was guilty. He ran off to America, where no one would recognize him, which is where you met him. He came back here and asked for a charm to make it impossible for people to recognize him or remember his face when they turned away. That is why it is so astonishing that you recognize him...because no one else can, except for Harry and I and the staff who know of his presence."

Charolette looked at Dumbledore, confused as to why she could recognize Sirius.

Sirius faced her, and looked into her eyes. He could see apologetic tears forming in them, and touched his forehead with hers.

"I'm sorry Charolette, but I'm a burden, I have to go." With that he ran out of the office, leaving a stunned Charolette and smiling Dumbledore behind.

"Albus, I think I'm going to go up to my room now...I suddenly don't feel all that well..." Charolette said, emptyness shadowing her beautiful face.

"Alright, goodnight Charolette," Albus said, and when she had gone smiled and sat down in his chair.

"What are you smiling about Albus? The poor kids are hurt and your SMILING?" the paintings all said in unison.

"Ah, my friends, what you don't see is that the only way that Charolette, a mere woman Sirius hardly knows and met for the first time a few weeks ago, could recognize Sirius is if they were soul mates."

The paintings whispered to themselves, finally turning to Albus with one wide grin.

~*~


	5. Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Chapter 5- Can You Feel The Love Tonight

****

Disclaimer: Characters belong to JK Rowling except Charolette and family :)

(Can You Feel the Love Tonight is a song by Elton John)

That night Charolette sat alone in her room, staring out at the lake. She was wearing a soft really thin white nightgown that draped down past her ankles. Sitting in a chair, she sighed when she thought of what had happened in Dumbledore's office.

Why could she recognize Sirius when no one was supposed to? Had she somehow been the odd ball exception? She couldn't think of a reasonable explanation and instead gave up.

She pondered with the thought of going to visit Sirius, seeing as to how his room was next door to her's. But she figured he'd need some time alone.

Instead, she curled up in her feather soft bed the elves had prepared for her, and fell soundly asleep, praying the nightmares didn't haunt her this night.

~*~

Sirius was used to being alone. Afterall, he'd been on the run for a long time with nothing but a hippogriff for company. He'd given Buckbeak back to Hagrid when he'd arrived.

Hagrid was most happy about this, and welcomed Sirius back with open arms when he learned of his innocence. He didn't remember the meeting after.

That charm worked good enough, Sirius thought, almost too good. He had thought about her, Charolette, and it had hurt him that she'd never recognize him again.

That was probably why when she did recognize him, he felt panic in his stomach. At first he had thought the charm had worn off, meaning that it couldn't be cast again. 

For once the charm was cast, it was impossible for it to work again.

He clung to the memory of her soft cheek touching his when she hugged him, and the sweet scent of lavender in her hair. He'd been so happy to know she recognized him, but covered it up with the saddness he felt that no one else could.

This was the price one has to pay, he thought to himself, when your stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time...

~*~

A week passed, and Charolette and Sirius did hardly more then wave in the halls when they passed eachother and then slink down, thinking the other could never understand.

They had talked, once or twice, during meals. But the conversation had been so casual as to not include anything but food and the school. Oh yes, it also had included Emma.

Sirius had seen Emma, who didn't recognize him but smiled at him all the same, and he was proud to note that she was good friends with his godson, Harry.

Harry saw him for the first time since he'd heard about him being back and the charm and all, and ran up and hugged him, forgetting that Hermione and Ron would be clueless.

He didn't care, he had his godfather back.

Emma didn't seem to care, and figured that the man and Harry had a past relationship, even though she could never remember what he looked like after she'd left his sight.

Soon enough, the second week of classes was over, and Friday night plans loomed in everyones minds. Parties, study clubs, anything the students could do for fun was hanging in the air.

Sirius had left a note at Charolette's door, inviting her to dinner with him that evening in his room. He had decided that he could discuss things with her over dinner. Nothing more, he told himself when he had placed the note on her doornob.

Charolette picked up the letter, bringing it into her room. She read it and couldn't hold back a smile. Of course she'd go, she thought. She had things she needed to tell him.

She went into her wardrobe and searched through for her dress that she usually wore for business parties and such. It was a long black dress with embroidery on the top of it. It was spaghetti strap and accented her hourglass figure.

Picking it out and some really uncomfortable but nice black shoes, she laid them on the bed and went in to take a shower and get her hair ready. She wanted to look good when she told him, because she wanted what was sure to be their last speaking night to be at least kind of memorable for at least something nice.

~*~

Pulling out his wand, Sirius looked over his room. He had cleared his small living room of the couch and added floating candles to the ceiling for light. Outside on his balcony he'd set up a small table and two chairs, overlooking the lake.

Romantic, He thought. It was just what Charolette reminded him of. Sheer beauty.

He heard a knock at the door and turned around, walking to the door and opening it slowly. When he saw her he was lost for words.

"Are you just going to stand there or invite me in?" she asked, a wide grin on her face.

Charolette had her long dark brown almost black hair off to one side, softly curled. Her eyes shone brighter then anything else in the room, bright amber gems in a sea of candlelight.

Sirius stepped back and motioned for her to enter, smiling as she looked up at the candles floating around the ceiling. 

"Wow," she said, turning to Sirius, who motioned her out onto the balcony and to sit down at the small table. She sat and looked out over at the lake.

"The lake it really beautiful at night," Sirius said quietly, as he poured her a glass of white wine. 

"Yeah...tell me about it," she muttered, awestruck by how the full moon bounced off the water. In the distance she heard the faint howl of a wolf.

Sirius sat across from her, and with his wand made food appear in front of them.

"The main course, my lady," Sirius said, grinning at her and laughing.

Charolette laughed, and following along with his playful yet fake ettiqute, picked up her wine glass and made a toast.

"To Trans Air, for being a good airline," she said, a broad smile showcasing her white teeth.

Sirius broke out laughing and almost spilled his wine. "To Trans Air!" 

They clinked glasses and sipped the wine.

"I've never tasted such divine wine!" Charolette said in a fake proper english accent.

"Funny cause it's the cheap kind," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow and winking at her, then downing the glass.

Charolette laughed playfully and drank some more of the wine. They began to eat, occasionally breaking out into laughter about something random. 

When they'd finished eating, Sirius pulled out his wand again and made the plates clean with a few words. 

"Magic never ceases to amaze me..." Charolette said, "At home I'd have to wash those by hand, didn't have a dishwasher..."

Sirius smiled and looked at her, gazing into her amber eyes. 

"Would you care to dance?" he said softly, standing up when she nodded. He grabbed her hand gently and led her into the living room. He pulled out his wand and made music turn on. His song of choice: 'Beauty and the Beast by Celine Dion'

Charolette stopped and closed her eyes. 

"I love this song...it's my favorite song in the whole world...so romantic..."

Sirius grinned and swept her into his arms, then holding her out, her hand on his shoulder and her other hand in his. They began to sweep across the floor, following the beat, gazing into eachothers eyes. The candles got brighter and lower so that they surrounded the dancers.

Charolette got closer to Sirius, and he twirled her around, sending the bottom of her dress twirling after her. The song got softer, and Charolette leaned her head on Sirius's shoulder, slow dancing now. He buried his face in her hair, taking in the scent of lavender.

The song ended slowly, and Sirius dipped Charolette till her head almost touched the ground, then pulled her back up into his arms. They stood there for a moment, then Charolette leaned forward slightly till their lips were almost touching. 

Suddenly Charolette realized what she was doing and Sirius must have realized it too because he backed away slightly.

"I'm sorry Charolette," he said softly, watching her eyes.

"Don't be sorry Sirius...it could never work out..." They both stared at the ground, and realized they were still in eachothers arms as if they didn't want to let go. 

Charolette looked up into his eyes. So deep blue, it was like gazing into the deepest end of the ocean. She could see the hurt in his eyes, and the longing. Oh how she wanted to fill that longing.

"Sirius...I need to explain some things to you...it might help explain why I act the way I do," She said finally, then leading him over to the couch that was against the wall.

When he'd sat down next to her, Charolette took his hand in hers and looked at it, caressing his palm and fingers. Then she began to speak, looking up into his eyes again.

"Have you ever wondered why I have a daughter, but no husband?"

"I figured you'd gotten a divorce...why?"

"I got pregnant when I was 19. I was foolish and in love with my boyfriend who when he found out about the baby clearly showed no interest in me anymore. I walked in on him sleeping with another woman in the same bed I'd conceived Emma in..."

Charolette fought back the tears that threatened to fall, keeping a strong and calm gaze on Sirius.

"I was so...furious and upset I didn't know what to do...so I ran," she paused. "And he never came after me."

Sirius looked into her eyes and touched her cheek with his hand, brushing back the hair in her face.

"I brought up Emma on my own, trying to give her the best life possible. My father died when I was younger, and my mother was all I had left. When she'd learned I'd been associating with a muggle and now carried his child, she disowned me and I was left out on the streets with nothing." Charolette sniffed and continued, feeling pain rush through her.

"I got a job as a journalist, and then rose to be one of the best in my company. I still hardly made enough money to support Emma and I, so we lived in a rather small but cozy apartment. Oh god I wanted out so badly. When my sister wrote me and told me she had gotten Emma into Hogwarts I felt that this was an answer to my prayers. My way out..."

She paused again, looking down at her hands.

"Because of my ex boyfriend, I never trusted men again. Never. I swore them off, and was good at keeping it up too...that is...until I met you."

Charolette looked up at him now, and saw tears welling in his eyes.

"It was like the light at the end of the tunnel. I felt like my destiny sat before me...but I tried to hide it and block it out of my mind. I had forced such strict discipline on myself that I wouldn't let myself admit I liked you."

Sirius saw how tears were falling on Charolette's cheeks and wrapped her up in his strong arms.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, baby," he said softly, kissing her forehead.

"I felt so alone...god I don't want to be alone anymore..." she said quietly, giving into the sobs that shook her whole body.

"Your not alone, Charolette, I'm here for you...I'll always be here," he said, and then realized that for once in his life, his own lonliness was fading away. 

When Charolette had stopped crying, she backed out of his arms and told him sorry. He looked into her eyes, which were red rimmed but still a beautiful burning amber.

"I've never opened up to anybody before...I can't explain why it was so easy with you, your just...different then other men...I can't explain what it is..." Charolette paused, listening to the silence of the room.

Sirius leaned over and before she could resist kissed her lips. It was soft at first, then became fueled with need and desire. He let his tongue explore her mouth and his lips pursue her soul.

Charolette backed away slowly, shaking softly. She felt more lonely emotions rushing through her and slipped into his arms, resting comfortably in his embrace.

He held on to her small frame so tightly, he'd waited so long for someone to hold.

Charolette choked back what she wanted to do, and went for what was for the best. She stood up and walked to the door, watching hazily as he followed her and picked up her hand, kissing her palm.

"Goodnight Charolette," he said softly.

"Goodnight...Sirius." The name shuddered throughout her body as she walked out the door and into her room.

~*~


	6. Angel in Disguise

Chapter 6- Angel in Disguise

****

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Charolette and her family, the rest are owned by JK Rowling

(Angel in Disguise is a song by Brandy)

The next day Charolette woke up to see a woman standing at her window, gazing out at the lake.

"The lake sure is beautiful, isn't it Charolette?" the woman said.

Charolette almost choked and stood up immediately. 

"What are you doing here Maggie? How did you get in?"

"I told the house elves I was a friend of yours. They let me in without hesitating. Stupid creatures those elves..." Maggie said with disdain.

She turned to face Charolette now, grinning the same evil grin Charolette had seen the day she left. 

"How dare you just barge i here!" Charolette said finally, walking up to her sister and glaring at her.

"Oh Charolette, please, I couldn't let you slip out that easily. I figured I'd offer you a position in the Death Eaters again, since you ran out on the idea before. I just thought that maybe you'd thought it through and changed your mind..." Maggie played with the curtains for a moment, then turned to face Charolette again.

"I would never reconsider that offer...your fucking insane Maggie, I don't know you anymore! Then again I never really knew you at all, did I?" Charolette began to walk out of the room to change when Maggie grabbed her arm.

"Now you listen to me Charolette, your against bad odds here. Either you join or we'll have no choice but to kill you."

"Well then kill me! I don't give a damn!" Then she remembered Emma...and Sirius.

"Oh, and leave your precious little girl behind? She'd be in my care and she'd trust me with anything! I'd make her a death eater faster then you could come back from the grave to haunt me!"

Charolette grew red with fury and shoved her sister into the wall.

"You fucking bitch! Get out of here! NOW!"

"As you wish, Char." And with that, Maggie disapparated out of the room.

~*~

Sirius decided to take a run in the morning air to clear his mind of what had happened the night before. He wanted her, and at the same time knew it to be impossible for them to be together because he was on the run and could never give her what she needed.

As he stepped out of the castle and headed into the gardens, he was about to transform into his dog form when he noticed Charolette sitting on a bench, absentmindedly picking the petals off roses and ignoring a very angry garden elf who was yelling at her.

Sirius walked over to her and laughed when he noticed a dozen rose stems lying on the ground at her feet and a cluster of petals lying in her lap.

"What's going on, Charolette?" he said as he sat down next to her, staring at her blank expression as she busily tore apart a white rose.

She stopped, and looked at her hands. A single tear fell down her cheek.

"Whenever I felt stressed or upset about something I would go out on the balcony of my apartment and pick the petals off roses...it seemed to always help me clear my mind and calm down."

She began to pick the last petal off the rose stem and then threw the stem on the ground. The garden elf gave up and walked away, grunting to himself about his hard work being ruined by a stressed out witch.

Before she could pick up another rose, Sirius grabbed her hand and held it close to his lips, kissing it softly.

"Tell me what bothers you, I hate to see you this way."

"My sister showed up in my bedroom this morning..." Charolette said softly, staring at her hands.

Sirius looked at her confused. She'd never mentioned having a sister before. "Is that bad?"

"My sister is a death eater, she's pressuring me to join and said that if I didn't she would kill me..."

Sirius looked at her in disbelief. "What did you say to make her go away?"

"I just said for her to go away, that I didn't care if I died..." she paused, another tear streaking down her face. "Then she said that when I died, she would teach Emma to be a death eater...she would encourage Emma to join the dark side...I couldn't have that...I panicked."

Sirius looked deeply troubled now. 

"I'm so sorry...you shouldn't worry so much, I'm here for you...I'll protect you," he said softly as he kissed the palm of her hand.

Charolette looked at him with sad eyes, then stood up and walked over to a small rose bush with different colored roses on it. She picked two white roses and one blood red rose, then walked back and stood in front of Sirius.

She bent down so their faces were even and placed the first white rose in his hand. 

"There's something I want to give you...to thank you..." Charolette said slowly. "I used to work for a florist, he showed me this...I thought I'd show you..."

"This rose represents trust." She laid the second white rose into his palm, keeping her eyes on his.

"This rose represents respect." She then paused and looked into his eyes, letting her own well with tears. Then she laid the blood red rose into his open hand.

"And this rose...represents love and friendship." Charolette closed his hand around the roses and then brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it softly, then got up and walked back into the castle, leaving Sirius behind to deal with the garden elf who was now grumpily sweeping up petals.

~*~

Charolette fell back in the big white arm chair in her room and conjured up a fire. Closing her eyes she took in the warmth of the flames. She opened her eyes again and conjured up hot chocolate, setting it on the small table by the chair.

Standing up, Charolette waved her wand and hundreds of candles appeared in midair, covering the room in light. She waved her wand again and a holographic image of her and Sirius dancing began to dance across through the candles. She laid back in the chair and waved her wand again, letting music fill the room. The song was 'Forever' by Mariah Carey.

She relaxed and watched the dancing hologram sweep through the candles. 'Oh Sirius...' she thought to herself sadly. The song ended after a few minutes and Charolette heard a knock at her door.

She finished her hot chocolate and stopped the hologram and got rid of all the candles with one sweep of her wand.


	7. Don't Fear the Reaper

Chapter 7 - Don't Fear the Reaper

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Charolette and family. Thanks :)

(Don't Fear the Reaper is a song by Blue Oyster Cult)

Walking over to the door, she opened it softly and saw Sirius standing outside. Before she could mutter a sound he embraced her, crushing his lips down on hers. She began to push him back at first, but felt herself give way into his kiss, enjoying the moment.

They staggered back into the room, Sirius shutting the door behind him with his foot. Charolette stopped at the edge of the bed, and pushed him back slightly, looking at his face. 

"Sirius...I...I can't...please...don't force me," she said quietly, her eyes filled with sadness.

"You shouldn't lead people on without an intention of following up on it then Charolette," Sirius said bitterly, his eyes now filled with anger.

"We can't be anything but friends Sirius, you know that, we are two completely different people..."

Sirius let go of her, stepping back from her. His steel blue eyes which had before held hunger and need now showed anger and distress.

"I'm sorry Charolette..." he said and paused for a moment, looking deeply into her eyes. "I didn't mean to force you to do anything," Sirius

picked up her hand and opened it slowly. He dropped the small rose blossoms back into her palm and closed her hand. He forced his gaze to the ground and turned around sharply and walked out of the room, leaving Charolette standing alone, staring at the two white and one red rose in her hand.

~*~

Today was the first day Charolette would have the chance to see her daughter. She had been busy for the past few weeks and so had her daughter, what with classes and homework. But Dumbledore was letting them see eachother today.

Emma had been brought into Dumbledore's office the first night her mother came to him and told him her sister was a death eater. He had explained to Emma the situation and that her aunt was not to be trusted.

Emma understood, but was still shocked. She was glad her mother was safe, and was glad to finally get to see her.

Charolette approached the large Gargoyle that led into Dumbledore's office. She spoke the password and climbed onto the rising stairs.

When she reached the top she walked in the room, Charolette's hand shaking with nervousness.

Emma was already in there, sitting on an armchair playing candy wizards chess with Dumbledore. Emma saw her mother and ran up to her, hugging her tightly.

"I missed you honey," Charolette said happily, looking at her beautiful daughter. 

"Missed you too mom...oh...hello," Emma said to Sirius, who was now standing behind Charolette.

Charolette didn't say anything, but turned away from Sirius and back to her daughter.

Sirius smiled at Emma, pain urking inside him that she didn't remember him. He didn't bother to look at Charolette. It hurt too much.

He walked over to Dumbledore who was now standing by his desk, reading over a piece of parchment that was no doubt from the Ministry of Magic.

"Headmaster..." Sirius said quietly, motioning that he wanted to talk to Dumbledore in private. They walked into a room connected to Albus's office and took a seat at two armchairs seated by another fireplace.

"I was wondering if there was any news from the ministry about the death eaters? Apparently Charolette's sister is one of them."

"Yes, I'm afraid, but don't worry, as long as the fidelius charm is working, your safe. And as for Charolette's sister, she will most likely come back for Charolette, so we have to be on vigilant watch," Albus looked up at Sirius and kind of smiled, his baby blue eyes filled with worry.

"Sirius, I was wondering if you'd be interested in taking a teaching job here...as an animagi teacher, seeing as to how you and your friends learned to do it."

Sirius was a bit shocked but nodded in agreement. "Sure, I'll take the job...thank you very much, Headmaster."

Albus patted Sirius's shoulder and walked out of the room, Sirius trailing behind him. They entered the office again, to find Charolette and Emma talking about Harry Potter and how Emma was good friends with him now.

"Well, the time being what it is, I believe it is time for Emma to get back to her classes," Albus said softly, winking at Emma.

"Alright, I'll see you later mom," she hugged Charolette tightly and walked out of the room, waving by to Sirius and Albus.

Charolette sighed and sat down in one of the arm chairs where Albus and Emma had been playing chess. She knocked over one of the pieces in exasperation. Albus walked over to the other chair and sat down, looking at Charolette.

"I know this is hard, but she is well protected, I can assure you of that..." he looked up at Sirius, "and it seems to me that you are well protected as well."

Charolette looked up and saw he was looking at Sirius, who was gazing out the window, pretending not to listen.

"Oh, no no Headmaster...Sirius and I...we're just...friends, believe me," she said softly, looking down at her hands which now toyed with one of the candy chess pieces.

"Nothing more then friends, headmaster," Sirius interrupted sternly.

Albus looked at both of them, seeing as to how they were both hurt when they admitted what they thought as the truth. He smiled and stood up and walked over to his desk.

"Well you two, I've got some paperwork I've got to do, if you'll please leave me to it," Albus said cheerfully, smiling at both of them as they nodded and headed towards the door.

Sirius pulled it open to let Charolette walk through, staring down at the floor as she passed. Charolette thanked him quietly and rushed to her room ahead of Sirius, who turned and went out to the lake.

* * * *

That night Charolette was sitting quietly in her armchair in her room. Gazing into the fire, she relaxed and tried to forget Sirius, Dumbledore, and the whole magic world. But she found that when she opened her eyes, tears flowed freely down her delicate cheeks, relflecting the firelight.

Charolette didn't know what she wanted. Once again in her life, things weren't going so well. She had been in love once, and it had caused her nothing but pain. She didn't want to go through that again. Even if it was with Sirius.

I would only bring Sirius pain, she thought sadly. I could never trust him, I could never let go.

She closed her eyes again and breathed in the smoky scent of the fire and the lavender scent of a candle she had lit on the mantel. Charolette lost her train of thought and began to drift off to sleep.

Not long had passed when Charolette opened her eyes slightly, feeling another presence in the room. Before she could turn her head, a hand grabbed her around her mouth to prevent her from screaming. The person pulled out their wand and whisperedthe imperius curse, causing Charolette to feel light headed. 

The person ordered her quietly to stand up. Charolette felt part of her saying no, but the imperius curse was too strong and she'd never been under it before. The person led Charolette out of the room, and down the hall.

Making sure nobody would see them, the person who was now leading Charolette down to the entrance hall was wearing an invisibilty cloak, so it just looked like Charolette was taking an evening walk.

When they reached the huge door at the entrance of the castle, the person ordered Charolette to open it and step outside. Charolette obeyed, watching helplessly while her body started walking away from the castle.

She couldn't see the person who was leading her away, but knew they were there because she could constantly hear them muttering things for her to do.

Charolette felt carefree and lightheaded at the same time as feeling great worry and frustration. Why couldn't she repel the curse? Why was she forced to give in?

The person led Charolette to the dark forest, where she saw a broom leaning neatly against a treetrunk. 

Off by the lake, Sirius gazed up at the sky, watching a meteor shower. Normally he would have been fascinated by seeing stars fall from the sky, but his mind was elsewhere.

He couldn't stop thinking about Charolette. The way her soft dark brown black hair flowed freely down her back and the way her amber eyes shown with deep gold, penetrating his gaze. The way her smile shut out all worries, even though her smile was rare to see. She hardly ever smiled.

Sirius sighed deeply and gazed over his shoulder. He saw a dark figure walking right into the forest. Turning into dog form, Sirius ran after the person, keeping quiet and in the shadows.

Much to his surprise, he saw that it was Charolette, and that she was stepping up onto a broom that was by a tree and that she looked like she was sleep walking.

Watching intently, Sirius watched as another figure appeared behind Charolette and got on the broom behind her. The figure then kicked up off the ground and began to fly off into the night sky, heading east.

Sirius quickly ran to the broom shed, taking out his broom. He set off to follow them. Clearly something was wrong.

* * * *

Charolette opened her eyes slowly, forgetting for a second what had happened. She then felt a sick jolt of anxiety in her stomach as she remembered the night before. She had been knocked unconcious when they had reached some sort of mansion.

She couldn't remember anything else. 

Charolette sat up and looked around. Whoever had brought her here had placed her in a small guest room with a queen size bed against on wall and a small desk on the opposite wall. There were no decorations in the room, and Charolette felt nervous just being in it. The walls were adorned with pale blue wallpaper that matched the color of the comforter of the bed she was on.

There was a small window with white blinds and the same pale blue color drapes. She climbed out of bed, still wearing her dark red robes from the night before.

She rubbed her eyes, feeling exhausted and weak. When she opened them there was a woman standing by the window. She was short and pudgy with strict dark curls close to her head. She looked over at Charolette and smiled, causing Charolette to gasp.

"Maggie!" Charolette shouted with surprise. Maggie stepped over to Charolette who was now standing by the bed, gazing disapprovingly at her. Charolette opened her mouth to speak, but realized there were no words to say. Maggie had her now, and Charolette knew she was going to be forced to take the mark.

"Charolette my dear...how nice it is to see you again," Maggie said, smirking at Charolette and glaring at her evilly. "I think you know why you are here."

Charolette began to back away from her sister, backing away towards the door. She gazed at her sister, who hadn't moved an inch but was instead looking out the window again. Charolette felt the door and opened it quickly, about to sprint out of it when she bumped into something hard.

Charolette looked up and saw a tall man with long white hair glaring down at her, a smirk forming on his tight lips. "Hello, Ms. Graye, how nice of you to join us."

Charolette didn't recognize the man but her questions about his identity were confirmed when Maggie turned and spoke.

"Ah, goodmorning Mr. Malfoy, I see you've met Charolette, my sister?"

"Hello Maggie," Malfoy said with wider smirk then before. He grabbed Charolette by the arms and pushed her against the wall.

"You have one of two choices, and I think its obvious which is the better of the two, darling." Malfoy said calmly, gripping Charolette's wrists and holding them against the wall. "You may choose to join us, and fight with us as death eaters and take the dark mark on your arm, or you can choose to let us kill you...now you have 3 seconds, 1....2....thr," the man said, gripping Charolette tighter.

Charolette winced in pain. "You'll have to kill me then because I refuse to be what you've become Maggie!" she screamed.

Malfoy looked over at Maggie, and pulled up her sleeve, revealing the dark mark. "You could have had a piece of the power, Charolette, pity you chose the side thats going to lose, the side thats already losing..."

Charolette glared up at Malfoy, noticing that his eyes were a steel gray and were hard and tough, nothing like Sirius's, who showed compassion.

Malfoy let go of her and walked swiftly to the door, shouting to two large men outside. The men came in the room and grabbed Charolette, who tried to kick them but was overpowered by them when Malfoy performed imperius on her.

The world became dizzy and she felt lightheaded, watching as her legs began to walk for her, her brain totally shut out in its own world.

Charolette saw the two men carrying her fly into the air and across the hall. She fell to the floor, gasping and waking up slightly from the imperius curse.

She looked up and saw Malfoy clutching his wand and pointing it at Sirius. Sirius had his wand pointed at Malfoy and sent off a beam of yellow light that pinned Malfoy to the wall, causing him to drop his wand.

Charolette winced at the pain she felt in her arms from where Malfoy had clutched her. She tried to stand up but her legs wobbled beneath her, causing her to sink to the floor again in desperation. She felt Sirius pick her up and run. He ran down the stair case and right through a crowd of now confused Death Eaters. They never saw it coming and by the time they realized that Charolette had gotten away, Sirius was already in the air on his broom, clutching Charolette to his chest.

* * * *

Charolette awoke yet again, squinting her eyes against the bright sunlight that was shining in her face. She felt a stab of fear as she thought she was in the Malfoy Manor again, but then looked around and realized it was her own bed.

Sirius was sleeping in the arm chair by the fire, his black hair touseled from flying. Charolette stood up and felt instantly dizzy. Her head ached and she realized she had been asleep for some time. 

Shaking off the dizziness, she stepped into the bathroom and splashed cool water over her face, considering what had happened the past night. She realized she didn't want to think about it anymore and turned on the shower.

She gently stripped off her robes and looked at herself in the mirror. She had faint bruises on her upper arms where Malfoy had gripped her. They hurt slightly when she touched them. Stepping gingerly into the shower, she let the steam and hot water relax her muscles and mind. She hadn't taken notice that the door to the bathroom was open, and Sirius had woken and seen the bed empty, a stab of fear in his heart.

He walked into the bathroom and saw her in the shower and breathed freely again. He washed his face and tried to fix his rats nest of hair. Charolette turned off the water, and saw Sirius standing by the sink, staring at his tangled black mane.

Not thinking, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. 

"Want me to help?" she said softly, watching Sirius try to finger through his hair.

"Alright...be careful, I don't want to have any bald spots." Sirius said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Charolette ignored the comment and grabbed her brush and detangling spray. She began to spray his hair and run the brush through it. His hair was almost instantly detangled and he marveled at the way she stroked it straight.

Sirius had let his hair grow long again, always liked it that way, he thought. Though at times like these, it was better to have short hair.

Charolette set the brush down on the counter and stepped out of the bathroom when she was finished. Sirius ran his hands through his hair and was very pleased.

He followed after her, entering the room and seeing her standing naked by the bed, pulling on panties and faded blue jeans. She didn't care that he was watching her, she had nothing to hide afterall. Well, at least not physically...she thought with a sigh.

Sirius waited by the door of the bathroom until she finished dressing and then walked up to her. Charolette looked up at him, her amber eyes penetrating through his gaze.

"It was so hard...really hard..." Charolette said quietly, her voice wavering as tears threatened to well up in her eyes.

"What was?" Sirius asked sternly, expecting her to say something meaningless.

"Seeing the dark mark on my sisters forearm..." Charolette whispered, watching the hard expression on Sirius's face quiver slightly, then watching him stare down at the floor, avoiding her gaze.

"I'm sorry Charolette." he said as he walked quickly out of the room.


	8. Something About The Way You Look Tonight

Chapter 8- Something About The Way You Look Tonight

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Charolette and family. Thanks :)

(Something About The Way You Look Tonight is a song by Elton John)

Charolette sat in Dumbledore's office, an exhausted expression on her face. She'd rushed there right after Sirius had left, and had just told him everything that had happened.

How she had been kidnapped, and then how Sirius had rescued her. Dumbledore was worried for Charolette, and knew she wasn't safe being alone in her room. He suggested that she stay with another of the guests, but Charolette only knew Minerva and Sirius, and Minerva wasn't the kind of person Charolette wanted to stay with.

Albus stroked his chin, contemplating what could be done. He knew the answer before he had decided to pretend to be thinking, but he knew that he had to make Charolette consider the option first.

When she didn't, Albus knew that it would be hard to get her to bring it up, so he did.

"I think the best course of action would be if you stayed with Sirius, he seems to have taken a liking to protecting you," the older wizard said gently, careful of what he was saying..

Charolette's head whipped up, a mean glare on her face. "I don't want to see that pig again, I'm sorry Albus, but I refuse..."

Albus's baby blue eyes twinkled with excitement as he thought up a plan that could bring the two together. He knew that they needed eachother, even if they had too much pride to admit it. 

Charolette was a strong girl, but she still needed protection. And Sirius was getting more lonely as the days went on. He had hardly any friends because of the Fidelius Curse, and it was getting hard for him to not have anyone recognize him. That was probably why he hung around Charolette all the time. That was also probably why he saved her. She was the one person who DID recognize him. 

Dumbledore stood up and told Charolette to stay seated, that he would be right back. He walked out of his office and down the corridor, heading towards the gardens.

~*~

Sirius was sitting down on the small bench where Charolette had been a few days before, and was thoughtlessly picking apart a small rose. He didn't know what had inspired him to come out here, but he couldn't shake off thoughts of her. She was embedded in his thoughts. Gods, he thought, what is it about her?

He heard a twig breaking under footsteps and looked up and saw Albus standing next to him. The old wizard smiled down at him, and then took a seat on the bench. 

"Goodafternoon, Sirius," he said softly.

Sirius looked back down at his hands. The rose was completely scattered on the ground.

"Afternoon," he said finally, still glaring at his hands and contemplating when exactly he'd taken up Charolette's stupid habit.

"Sirius, I want you to come into my office. But before you do, I need to explain something to you." 

Sirius muttered something that was almost audible as 'okay' and Albus continued.

"Have you wondered why she can recognize you?"

"I figured that it was just because I had met her recently...why?"

Albus smiled now, looking at the young wizard next to him.

"That has to be further from the true reason."

"What do you mean?"

"When we performed the curse on you, we looked up the list of people who would be able to recognize you even with the curse on, and the list said family members, old friends, and soul mates."

Sirius looked up at Albus now, staring confusedly into his eyes.

"What are you getting at, Headmaster?" he said, a glare forming in his eyes.

"I'm saying that Charolette can recognize you because you are soul mates. There's no other explaination. And the signs show it, trust me."

"What signs? What the hell are you talking about?" Sirius said, anger building in his voice.

"Do you think that if you hadn't felt something for Charolette that you wouldn't of gone after her when she was taken away by Malfoy? Do you think that if you hadn't felt something connecting you to her that you wouldn't of accepted her into your life which you hadn't been willing to do in a long time because of your past?"

Sirius glared at the wizard beside him, then his expression softened as he comprehended that it was the truth. He had felt something between him and Charolette, he had even tried to act on it. But she'd pushed him away. Which convinced him even more that she didn't care about him. 

He found it hard to say anything, to speak even a simple word. His mind was jumbled up and he was confused. Sirius didn't know what to think now that he knew the truth. He didn't seem to feel it was right to reveal how he truely felt. It would only hurt her, he thought sadly.

"I think you know what you have to do, Sirius," Albus said finally, watching the realization spread over Sirius's face. "You can find her in my office."

Sirius looked at the torn rose in his hands, closed his eyes for a second, then stood up and ran off into the castle, dropping the rose behind him.

~*~

Charolette was sitting alone in the large armchair in the Headmaster's office. She had been running through the idea of staying with Sirius through her mind. She was sure that he hated her now, because she had pushed him away when she knew in her heart that she wanted nothing but to be with him. Love could be a funny thing. So strong it can engulf a person in emotions.

She layed her head back onto the armchair and closed her eyes. She couldn't bear to hurt him anymore, it was better that he hated her as much as possible. She knew she could never open up to him, and that's what he needed. He needed someone who could express themselves...and she just couldn't offer that.

She heard the door open and figured that Albus had returned. She stood up and walked over to the large window behind the headmasters desk. Charolette clenched her fists at her sides and took a deep breath.

"I've made my decision," she said softly. Her stomach was in a tight knot and she felt like she would vomit at any second. Stress hurt. Hurt badly.

"I don't want Sirius to be in danger...I refuse to stay with him and place him in harms way."

She felt soft fingertips stroke her arms and then strong arms wrap around her waist. The knot in her stomach tightened more as she felt a jolt of anxiety. Hot breath on her neck sent trembles down her spine and tingles flow through her body. 

A soft voice spoke with the breath on her neck, and smooth hair flowed freely on her shoulder. "Please forgive me Charolette...forgive me..." the familiar voice said.

A single tear fell down her cheek.

Charolette felt like she was about to collapse. Her breath went ragged and her whole body trembled. She turned around to face him, to face him at last.

"Sirius..." she whispered, the name silky and smooth on her tongue. He stared compassionately into her eyes, still so close that she could feel his breath on her face. She felt so warm, so safe. So...at peace.

Sirius embraced her tighter, breathing in the lavender scent of her black hair. Charolette felt her arms rap around his neck, and the way his body seemed to give way with relief at the touch of her arms to his back.

"Sirius....I love you," she said quietly, feeling a huge lump in her throat as tears began to fall down her face. She sobbed and clung to his embrace, letting herself fall into the sweet abyss of him.

Sirius felt his heart lighten the moment the sweet words hit his ears. His own held back tears threatened to fall.

"Gods Charolette...the feeling's far beyond love," he said, his voice wavering as sobs began to overtake him.

The passionate confessions escaped their hearts as the embrace went on for what seemed like an eternity. They sobbed into eachothers souls, letting out emotions locked up inside their hearts. 

Sirius pulled back, looking deep into Charolette's amber eyes. He saw that the fear had melted away and was replaced by something that he couldn't name. This must be love, he thought to himself. He knew the same was flowing through his eyes in spades at the same moment.

He felt his mouth magneted to hers. Moving slowly, they approached eachother's lips contentedly. His mouth scraped over hers gently, teasing the taste of her. He wanted to savor this moment, even though it wasn't their first kiss. It was the first to him.

He crushed his mouth onto hers, feeling her lips part, opening, welcoming him. 

Heat rushed through her body as Charolette savored the kiss. Their mouths moved as one, teasing the others with quiet manuevers. Heat flowed freely from his body to hers, and from hers to his. Love more powerful than that of fate seemed possible.

~*~


	9. Insatiable

Chapter 9: Insatiable

(Insatiable is a song by Darren Hayes)

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Charolette and family. Thanks :)

"Sirius..." the name sounded so rich and perfect on her lips, she thought as she layed down slowly on the bed. Sirius crawled on top of her and began kissing her bare chest.

Charolette moaned quietly as his smooth lips found the crook of her neck and planted small kisses there. Sirius moved his mouth up to hers, tasting her and feeling her tongue tease his lips.

He moved his hands up and down her bare skin. She ran her hands through his long black hair as he began to kiss her navel. Releasing silent moans, she savored the sensation of his hot tongue on her stomach.

"Please Sirius...please..." she whispered softly and she kissed his neck and ran her hands down his bare back. Sirius buried his face in the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath and breathing in the scent of her hair.

He moved inside her, filling the void of sorrow she had built up over the years. His mouth reached hers as he began to move in and out slowly, breathing in her gasps.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hid in his hair. He moved faster and stronger, filling as much of the void as he could. She felt heat beginning to rise in her and leaned back to stare into his steel blue eyes.

Charolette gazed into his eyes, never looking away as the first hot flash of heat hit her body, blinding her in waves of scarlet trembles. He stared deeply into her gaze and felt himself lose all thoughts in amber waves. 

Sirius stopped moving and fell headfirst into the abyss of her amber eyes. He felt himself pour into her and felt her gasps of pleasure rock his heart inside his chest. He felt heat rise and spread through his body, and buried his face in her hair, clenching his teeth.

Charolette layed there, breathless and blinded by the final rush of heat. Sirius wrapped Charolette up tightly in his arms, gazing longingly into her eyes. 

"I love you, Charolette Graye," he said softly, planting a kiss on her sultry lips.

Charolette smiled and kissed his mouth again, harder and with passion. 

"I love you too, Sirius Black," she replied, smiling again and burying her face in the crook of his neck.

~*~

"You mean she's dead?" Charolette said, her voice full of astonishment.

"Yes, I'm afraid so...it seems that Voldemort punished Maggie and Malfoy for letting you get away...apparently you know too much." Dumbledore replied sadly, his face drained of it's usual cheerfulness. He looked tired and worried, like a huge strain was carried on his back. Which in more ways then one, it was.

Charolette couldn't believe it. Tears began to well inside her eyes. Her only sister was...dead. Just like that. And it was all her fault. 

Sirius wrapped his arms tigher around her shoulders and kissed away her tears.

"I'm sorry baby.." he said softly. "So what do we have to do now?" 

Dumbledore covered his face in his hands and thought for a moment. 

"Charolette is in great danger, we must keep her safe at all times...that's really all we can do.." 

Sirius clenched his fists. Voldemort had taken away everything he'd ever held dear...his brothers, his best friend, and now his soul mate was threatened. He couldn't let it happen. No, he WOULDN'T let it happen.

Charolette cleared her throat and looked up at Dumbledore. 

"There's got to be someway that we can stop him...I can't be on the run forever..."

"There really isn't anything you can do, my child." Dumbledore said sadly, covering his face in his hands again.

~*~

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked.

He had walked into Charolette's room to find her looking in the mirror, wearing long black robes and fixing her dark hair into a tight bun.

"I'm going to London, then back to New York...I can't endanger the students here...if Voldemort's after me he's going to have to come get me."

Sirius looked at her dumbstruck. 

"Your leaving? Just like that?"

"I'm doing what is best for the saftey of everyone here, I have to leave." Charolette turned around to face Sirius, her amber eyes blazing. "I'm doing what is best for my daughter and my friends."

Sirius walked up to her and placed a hand on her cheek. She looked up into his eyes, the closeness causing more pain then it should have.

"I'll come with you..."

"You can't...I can't endanger you as well...if you come with me you might get hurt...I couldn't live with that."

"You might not live at all Charolette!" Sirius said, his voice filled with anger.

"I'm prepared for that, as long as no one I care about is in danger...I have to go." She leaned up and kissed his lips softly. "I'm sorry Sirius."

Charolette picked up her suitcase that was lying on the bed and walked swiftly out of the room, leaving Sirius standing alone.

~*~

Charolette sat impatiently in the train station leading to London. Why did this have to be the ONE day the train was running late? she thought. Oh well, it doesn't matter now, as long as I'm away from Hogwarts and the wizarding world.

She heard the faint sound of the train whistle and stood up, grabbing her small suitcase. The train pulled into the station and Charolette hopped on. She sat down in a small booth near the door, it would be easier to get out that way.

The train sat for about 15 minutes while the rest of the passengers boarded. Charolette buried her face in a book so that no one would recognize her just in case.

At last, the train began to move. Charolette felt anxiety building in her stomach as she thought about how cowardly she was being. It was the right thing to do, and yet very unlike her.

Or maybe it was just like her, she thought. She ran away from her old life to come to Hogwarts, and now she was running back to it. Her daughter would be safe and happy at Hogwarts now that she wasn't there. It was all she could offer her now.

Awhile later, the train pulled into Kings Cross station. Charolette picked up her suitcase and hurried off the train, trying to beat the crowds. She ran to the bus stop and boarded a bus that was just about to leave. 

The bus took her to the airport about 15 minutes later. Ah, she thought, finally I can leave and rid the wizarding world of my presence. It really is better this way.

She again ran into the airport, racing to the lines to buy her ticket. The airport wasn't very busy, and so she was able to get the next ticket leaving for New York City right away.

The plane was to take off in 30 minutes so she ran as fast as she could to the waiting area in front of the doors leading to the plane. When she got there, she quietly sat down and caught her breath. 

There weren't many people there, people obviously didn't feel like going to the U.S. Or maybe they just didn't want to go to New York.

Charolette sat quietly, anxiety building ever more in her stomach and clouding her thoughts.

~*~


	10. Stole

Chapter 10- Stole

Disclaimer: Don't own, end of story.

(Stole is a song by Kelly Roland)

When Charolette had left, Sirius had walked outside into the gardens next to the castle. He sat on the bench where she had been sitting picking apart roses only a few days before. 

He knew that they needed Charolette He also knew that he needed her.

A loud swoosh sound made him look up. He saw what had to of been 15 figures in black cloaks and 3 really tall and slim figures. Figures that he could not have mistaken for anything else.

"Dementors..." he said under his breath, watching as the Death Eaters led the dementors inside the castle doors. He heard murmured voices coming from the direction of where the death eaters had gone. 

"She'll be upstairs, in her room." a voice said.

Sirius turned to dog form and padded up quietly to the castle, entering slowly, trying to go unnoticed. He achieved this, and watching as the death eaters and three dementors walked upstairs towards Charolette's room.

She was right, Sirius thought. But she was wrong too.

He ran up the stairs after the death eaters, hoping to get to Dumbledore's office before they did. They apparently knew better then to enter the headmasters office, because they quietly creeped past the large gargoyle and broke into fast strides down to the Gryffindor tower.

Sirius transformed back into human form and ran over to the gargoyle and quietly whispered the password, stepping up the steps and walking into the older wizard's office. 

"Albus, the deatheaters and three dementors are in the castle," he said as calmly as he could, watching as Albus looked up from what looked like the Maurauders map.

"Yes, I know. They're heading up to Charolette's room. They won't find her there, she left some time ago, as you know. But they will go and try to take her daughter. If I know how they think they will figure they can bribe Charolette into coming back."

Sirius looked extremely pale and his stomach churned. What could he do?

"Albus, I have to go get Emma."

"You can't Sirius, the dementors can see through your camaflogue. I can go up and stop them...you need to go get Charolette...I have an idea."

Sirius nodded, trusting the older wizard, and ran off down the hallways and out into the cool night air.

~*~

Charolette looked at her watch. 5 till 7:00, she read. Great, plane takes off in 5 minutes. Perfect.

She looked around her for the first time, actually paying attention to her surroundings. A lot more people had come into the waiting area without her noticing. She didn't know how, they were frightfully loud.

But she had been in a deep trance, seemingly out of it, off in a dream where her and Sirius and Emma were together, safe in a cottage in the country.

The dream had been snapped by the sound of suitcases hitting the hard floor and the chuckling of people as they said hi to friends and family.

If only she had family, Charolette thought, to say goodbye and hello to. She had family, she had Emma, but she couldn't see Emma right now.

The thought stung like a hot needle in her stomach. What if she never saw her daughter again?

She began to drift off into sad thoughts again when a loud yell and thud caught her attention. She turned around and saw Sirius bounding towards her, apparently he had knocked over quiet a few people in his attempts to reach her in time because there was a long line of yelling and angry people behind him.

Charolette felt the anxiety in her stomach explode and fill her body. What was he doing here??

"Sirius?"

Sirius grabbed her arm and began sprinting away from the waiting area. Charolette began to hold back.

"Let go of me Sirius, what the hell is going on here?"

"Charolette, there is NO time to speak right now." he said simply as he picked her up and ran as fast as he could.

By the time he got outside he was out of breath and could barely walk. He ran into the shadows with Charolette still in his arms and apparated to Hogwarts.

~*~

Albus walked quickly to Minerva McGonagall's office. He saw her and quickly pulled her aside.

"Minerva I need you to get Severus and Theodore and everyone in the staff and I need you to follow me up to Gryffindor Tower. Have professor Sprout lead all the students out of the building, except for those near Gryffindor Tower."

Minerva, knowing better then to ask questions, nodded her head and ran off to find the rest of the staff.

Dumbledore headed off towards Gryffindor Tower, his long strides echoing through the halls.

He reached the tower and saw the death eaters tearing apart Charolette's room.

"What the fuck!? Where the fuck is she!!" someone inside the room yelled.

"Shh...calm the hell down, someone will hear you!" another voice said.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that." Albus said smugly as he walked into the room, facing a bunch of now very frightened death eaters. They were all apparently amatuers, because none of them were acting as if they had suffered much punishment from Voldemort.

"Stand back you old croak," the first man said, holding out his wand, his eyes filled with fear.

"You wish you had gotten far enough in school to know what to do now, Goyle." Severus Snape walked into the room, his black eyes blazing and his arm outstretched, holding his long black wand.

Goyle put down his wand, leering at Snape.

"Funny how you have the nerve to come back and face us, Snape," he said mockingly.

"Funny how you have the nerve to come back and face US, Goyle," Snape replied. "Expelliarmus!"

Goyle's wand flew from his hand and landed in Severus'. The other death eaters stood there watching, none of them knowing what to do. The dementors had known beforehand that Charolette wasn't in her room. They had sensed it. So while they left the deatheaters to rummage about the room, they went up into Gryffindor tower, anxious for a kiss.


	11. Maybe I'm Amazed

Chapter 11- Maybe I'm Amazed

Disclaimer: Don't own, end of story

"Sirius would you PLEASE tell me whats going on??" Charolette said when they had apparated to the front of Hogwarts.

"Deatheaters and Dementors are here looking for you," he said almost casually as he set her down and began sprinting down the hallways towards gryffindor tower.

"WHAT?" 

"You heard...and since your not here, they might try and take Emma."

Charolette's head spun, she felt instantly dizzy and nauseated. She fought it back and tried to gain her composure. She began to run after Sirius, trying to keep up.

They heard a loud scream and Charolette's heart skipped a beat. She knew that scream. She knew the scream from nights of waking up to nightmares and monster under the bed stories. She knew the scream from waking up to wailing tears and pouty lips. Oh gods why did she have to know that scream.

~*~

Harry woke with a start. He'd just heard a loud scream and pulled on his glasses, jumping out of bed. He grabbed his wand and ran down the stairs and up into the girls dorm.

A bunch of girls were running out of the room, screaming and crying. Harry felt a sudden sting of fear in his heart. Emma.

He rushed into the room and saw three large shadows leaning over one of the four poster beds. A tiny figure sat huddled on the bed, frozen with fright.

"Emma!" Harry called. The tiny figure moved and stared at him, glossy eyes glistening in the half moonlight.

Harry held out his wand. Happy thoughts...he thought...happy thoughts. He pictured Emma and him on the train, sleeping with their heads on eachothers shoulders, and the surprise it was when they woke up. He thought about her shining face and her bright smile, her twinkling blue eyes and her small perfect lips. _Expecto patronum...expecto patronum...expecto patronum..._

A large ghostly looking stag appeared out of the end of his wand and was sent charging at the dementors. The dementors recoiled and ran from the room and out of the castle into the night.

The stag turned to face Harry, beaming. Then it disapeered with a whisp of air from the open window.

Emma sat on the edge of her bed, breathing heavily, unsure of what to make of what just happened. Harry ran over to her and threw his arms around her.

"Harry..." she said softly, her voice wavering with sobs threatening to shake her.

"It's okay now, Emma...it's okay.." Harry whispered, holding her closer to him.

Charolette and Sirius burst into the room, both panting from running down the halls.

"Emma! oh thank gods.." Charolette said. Emma let go of Harry and ran to Charolette, hugging her tightly. Harry walked over to Sirius and gave him a strong hug. 

"Good job Harry, I'm proud of you," Sirius said proudly.

~*~

Dumbledore had the Dementors who hadn't joined Voldemort come and take the deatheaters and the three dementors away to Azkaban.

Sirius held onto Charolette, his face buried in her hair.

"Sirius I'm so sorry I left...I feel so terrible...I just thought I was doing the right thing." Charolette said, turning to face him.

"Are you planning on staying this time?" Sirius said with a wink and smile.

Charolette smiled too. Her and her daughter were safe, for now anyways. But she doubted that the deatheaters would be by Hogwarts anytime soon.

As for Sirius, he still had to have his face cursed so no one could recognize him, but at least Charolette did. To her and him, that was all that mattered.

Charolette looked up into Sirius' eyes. Such a dark steel blue, so deep you could get lost for millions of years. His eyes were like the night sky, deep and full of mystery.

She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips. He smiled and cupped her face in his hands, crushing his lips down on hers.

Emma and Harry stood by them, his arm around her waist, watching them.

"Well, this is going to be an interesting summer, eh?" Emma said, glancing up at Harry.

"Very interesting," he said with a smile, gazing down to look at Emma's sparkling eyes. "I can't wait till the wedding."

"What wedding?" Emma asked, her face bright with her smile.

"Oh I think you know," he said with a large grin.

Emma looked over at her mother and noticed Sirius placing a small silver band with a smooth fiery amber on it on Charolette's finger.

Her mother's smile said it all. 

THE END

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yay!! my first FINISHED fanfic! I'm so PROUDDDD!!!! lol. Anywho, hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This is definately my fave fanfic. I'm planning on starting to write another one soon, which I hope will be better then this one! Thanks for reading and check for updates on the new fic....I think I might call it Tiny Dancer after my fave Elton John song...:)


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